19-year-old IM Alex Lenderman won in the final round of the Copper State International
(May 29-June 3, Mesa, Arizona) against IM Levon Altounian to earn a ten-round GM norm, his first norm.

Meanwhile IM Rogelio
Barcenilla of the Phillipines won over GM Zviad Izoria to earn his third and final GM norm!

Surprisingly, IMs Barcenilla and Lenderman's stellar scores of 7/10 and 7.5/10 were not enough to win the tournament. GM Timur Gareev topped the field with a fantastic 8/10 score. The University of Maryland Baltimore Country student dashed IM Daniel Fernandez's own hopes for a GM norm with this final round victory:

More details coming soon, including an in-depth report by organizer and participant FM Daniel Rensch. Look for more information on the tournament and upcoming ACE events on the American Chess Events homepage.